A Comparative Timeline of General American History and Florida History, 1492 to 1823

Early exploration and establishment of colonies. Observe the trajectory of Spanish exploration in the Southeast versus English exploration along the Atlantic seaboard. Note the conflict in territorial interests beginning in 1586. While the Spaniards were expending efforts on creating Indian missions, the English of Virginia were rapidly expanding into commercial export of tobacco. By 1670 the Spaniards were entrenching behind defenses and encouraging slaves to runaway from their English masters, while English settlers retaliated with attacks on St. Augustine and the mission system. How did this rivalry between colonists and empires affect the region? Look at the dates around the War of Jenkin's Ear (1739-1742). What's the relationship between the founding of Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, the Stono slave revolt in Carolina, and Oglethorpe's attack on Spanish Florida? Can you relate this to issues about the American Civil War?

Major dates in the history of Spanish Florida

Comparative dates in British colonial history

1492

Columbus sails into the Caribbean.

1492

Columbus sails into the Caribbean.

1493

Columbus founds the town of
La Isabela on Hispaniola.

1497

John Cabot explores the Atlantic coast
of North America.

1513

Juan Ponce de León explores the Florida coast.

1524

Giovanni de Verrazano explores the
coast of North America.

1528

Pánfilo de Narváez leads an expedition
through Florida.

(Religious and dynastic turmoil in
England dampen interest in further
exploration overseas)

1539

Tristan de Luna tries unsuccessfully
to start a colony at Escambia Bay
(Pensacola).

1559

Tristan de Luna tries unsuccessfully
to start a colony at Escambia Bay
(Pensacola).

1562

Jean Ribault and French settlers land
in northeast Florida.

1564

French settlers build Fort Caroline on
the St. Johns River.

1565

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés destroys the
expedition from France and establishes
St. Augustine.

1585

English settlers make their first attempt
to settle Roanoke (Virginia)

1566

Menéndez founds his capital for La Florida at Santa Elena (Port Royal
Sound) in what is today South Carolina.

1577

Spaniards begin to conquer Florida,
allying or fighting with local native
American tribes and chiefdoms.

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés

A detail of Francis Drake's attack on the
town of St. Augustine in 1586.

1586

Sir Francis Drake, after raiding the
Spanish Caribbean, attacks and burns
St. Augustine.

1586

Sir Francis Drake visits Roanoke and
takes the settlers back to England.

Sir Walter Raleigh sends a second group
of colonists to reestablish Roanoke.

1588

Replacing the unsuccessful Jesuits,
members of the Franciscan order start
a mission for Indians on Cumberland
Island (now part of Georgia).

1588

English ships destroy the Spanish Armada
in the English Channel, altering the balance
of naval power in Europe.

1590

The latest wave of English colonists
to Roanoke find the colony abandoned
and return home to England.

1597

The Guale Indians of coastal Georgia
rebel against Spanish rule and efforts
at religious conversion.

1607

The Franciscans begin to establish
missions among the Timucuan Indians
of northeast and north central Florida.

1607

Captain John Smith establishes Jamestown.

1610s

Plague spreads among the 16,000 Indian
converts of Florida.

1616

The new colony of Virginia exports 2500
pounds of tobacco.

1620

The Pilgrims establish Plymouth colony.

1623

The Franciscans reintroduce religious
instruction among the Guale and
establish more missions.

The parish church of St. Augustine
(constructed 1797)

A cross from an early
mission site.

1626

The Dutch establish New Amsterdam
(later, New York)

1630

Virginia exports 333,000 pounds of
tobacco.
Boston is founded.

1633

For the first time, the Franciscans try to
establish missions among the Apalachee
of the panhandle region.

1634

The colony of Maryland is established.

1634

The colony of Maryland is established.

1635

There are at least 41 missions among the
Indians of northern Florida, with an
estimated population of 30,000 Indians.

1635

The Reverend Thomas Hooker petitions
to create Connecticut.

1638

Possible founding date for San Luis de
Talimali, soon to be the most important
settlement in Apalachee, and the western
capital of La Florida.

1638

Virginia exports 3.1 million pounds of
tobacco.

1647

War erupts in Apalachee between
Christian and non-Christian Indians.

1650

The missions of La Florida reach their
greatest extent.
Yellow fever and small pox kill hundreds
of Native Americans throughout the
decade.

1650

Although slaves only comprise a small
proportion of Virginia's labor force (which
is mostly indentured servants), colonial
authorities legalize chattel slavery, opening
the path to keeping Africans and their
children in bondage.

1656

Census shows 26,000 Christian Indians in
38 missions.

1658

Angered by Spanish demands for labor,
the Timucua Indians rebel against Spanish
rule and Gov. Diego de Rebolledo.

1659

The Council of the Indies in Spain orders
the arrest of Gov. Diego de Rebolledo for
mishandling Indian affairs.
A measles epidemic kills an estimated
10,000 Indians.

1663

The colony of Carolina is chartered.

1663

The colony of Carolina is chartered.

1670

The Treaty of Madrid defines Spain's
territorial claims in North America.

1672

Officials in St. Augustine commence the
building of a stone fortress, the Castillo
de San Marcos.

Eleven slaves (eight men, two women,
and a child) flee from slavery in Carolina
and go to St. Augustine.

1693

King Charles II declares that slaves fleeing
English possessions will be set free upon
arriving in Spanish territory.

1694

Charles II issues a royal order to occupy
Pensacola Bay.

1698

Spaniards establish Pensacola to block
French expansion along the Gulf of
Mexico.

Detail from Thomas Lopez's map of St. Augustine showing
the free black community of Fort Mose (far right).

1700

Fears grow in Carolina that slaves, now
numerous, might be encouraged by Spain
to rebel against slave-owners.

1702

An expedition led by James Moore of
Carolina invades Spanish Florida and
burns down St. Augustine but fails to
capture the Castillo.

1702

War of the Spanish Succession/Queen
Anne's War

1704

In a second expedition, James Moore
sends Indian allies of the English to raid
and destroy the Spanish missions.

1711

From a population of perhaps 8000 in
the 1670s, only 401 refugees survive the
attacks on the missions. They settle near
St. Augustine for protection.

1711

Colonists in Carolina put down an
attempted slave revolt.

1712

Colonists in New York put down an
attempted slave revolt.

1714

Colonists in Carolina put down a second
slave revolt.

1715

Escaped slaves help the Yamassee Indians
make war on Carolina colony.

1723

The English aid the Creeks in retaliations
against the Yamassee.

1724

Ten runaway slaves reach St. Augustine.

1728

Carolinians under Col. John Palmer attack
Nombre de Dios.

1733

James Oglethorpe founds Ft. Frederica,
Georgia.

1738

Spanish officials establish Gracia Real
de Santa Teresa de Mose, outside St.
Augustine, as a town for freed slaves.

1738

Mose outside St.
Augustine as a town for freed slaves.

1739

War of Jenkin's Ear between Spain and
Great Britain.

1739

Angolan slaves at the Stono River, South
Carolina, kill twenty whites in a revolt and
are caught trying to flee to Florida.

1740

James Oglethorpe leads Georgia and
Carolina militia on a military expedition
to destroy St. Augustine.

1740

The population of South Carolina reaches
40,000. Two-thirds of the colony's
inhabitants are slaves.

1741

Colonists in New York put down another
slave revolt.

1742

Governor Manuel de Montiano sends
a retaliatory strike into Georgia.

Age of Empire: The French and Indian War (1754-1763) redrew the map of colonial North America, eliminating French possessions in Quebec and Louisiana. Spain was forced to cede its colony of Florida to England. In compensation, it received the Louisiana territory from France. English colonies stretched along all of the Atlantic seaboard from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. This new "status quo" lasted less than 20 years, as thirteen of Britain's colonies rose in revolt against Crown and parliamentary policies. How did Spanish ambitions to regain the Floridas affect the American Revolution? What problems did a Spanish presence in Florida and Louisiana pose for the young United States? Consider how the administrations of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe resolved these problems in the years between the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and the First Seminole War (1817-1818). Original art, British ships, from Flags of Florida, Lt. Col. A.L.L. Martin.

1745
to
1763

The French and Indian War.

1745
to
1763

The French and Indian War.

1764

England divides its new colony of Florida
into two colonies, East and West, with
the capital of the former at St. Augustine
and the capital of the latter at Pensacola.

1764

Parliament passes the Revenue, or
Sugar, Act.

1765

John Bartram, Royal Botanist, travels
through British East Florida, including
visits to the Seminole Indians.

1765

Parliament passes the Stamp Act.

1767

Dr. Andrew Turnbull of Scotland
brings indentured servants from the
Mediterranean to Florida to work his
indigo plantation at New Smyrna.

1770

Eight British soldiers in the 29th Regiment
fire on a mob in Boston, killing five.

1773

John Bartram's son, William, returns to
East Florida.

1773

American patriots stage the Boston Tea
Party.

1774

The First Continental Congress meets.

1775

The American Revolution starts at
Lexington and Concord.

1776

Congress declares the colonies
independent.

1777

Indentured servants at New Smyrna rebel
and go to St. Augustine, creating the
"Minorcan" community there.

1778

France and Spain agree to aid the
American cause.

1779

Settlers loyal to George III flee into East
Florida from South Carolina and Georgia.

1779

The British capture Savannah.

1780

Spanish forces from Louisiana capture
Mobile in British West Florida.

1780

The British capture Charleston.

1781

An expedition under Bernardo de Gálvez
lays siege to Pensacola and forces the
British army defending it to surrender

1781

American and French forces, assisted
by a French fleet, trap Lord Cornwallis's
entire army at Yorktown, Virginia.

1783

England acknowledges Spanish
sovereignty over British West Florida
and cedes British East Florida.

1783

Britain recognizes the independence of
the United States.

Spanish officials were horrified when Napoleon Bonaparte acquired the Louisiana territory from Spain and then sold it to the United States. Americans now had a wedge of settlement between the Floridas and Texas, and complete control over the Mississippi River. But when President Jefferson claimed all the lands between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains as part of Louisiana, the United States and Spain came to the verge of war. Tensions lasted from 1803 until 1807, when Americans became distracted by growing problems with the British.

Detail from the French map "Lower Louisiana and West Florida" in Vue de la Colonie Espagnole du Mississipi, &c. (1803)

1788

Nine states ratify the U.S. Constitution,
establishing a new federal system of
government for the United States.

1789

Parisians storm the Bastille, starting
the French Revolution.
George Washington becomes the first
president of the United States.

1790

Spain establishes new laws for East
Florida, responding in part to the
proximity of the United States.
The Crown ends its policy of giving
sanctuary to runaway slaves.
It opens Florida to immigration. New
settlers must take an oath of loyalty to
the Crown.
It opens trade between Florida and
"neutral powers," which includes all
ports of the U.S.

1790

Thomas Jefferson, as Secretary of State,
proposes an expedition to explore the
Missouri River.

1791

William Bartrams's Travels through North
and South Carolina, Georgia, East and
West Florida comes out in print.

1793

The cornerstone of St. Augustine's parish
church (now the Cathedral Basilica) is laid.
The church is finished in 1797.

1793

French republicans execute King Louis
XVI for crimes against the people.
England and Spain declare war on France.
Thomas Jefferson again proposes an
expedition to the Missouri.

1794

French agents in Savannah make plans
to help Americans living in East
Florida rebel against Spanish rule.

1794

Farmers in western Pennsylvania rebel
over a proposed tax on whiskey.
Alexander Hamilton leads troops to
suppress trouble.

1795

Spanish forces in East Florida suppress
a revolt by American settlers.
Rebel leaders flee into Georgia.

1795

The Treaty of San Lorenzo between
Spain and the United States guarantees
Americans free use of the Mississippi
River and duty-free passage through
the port of New Orleans.

The early 1800s saw the people of the young American republic involved in disputes with France and Britain over safe passage of shipping on the high seas and with Spain over ownership of East and West Florida. Territorial acquisitions that started through negotiation were eventually concluded by war as the United States used the War of 1812 to push Spain into surrendering its Florida possessions. American troops occupied Spanish East Florida in 1812 and 1813. Meanwhile, Americans fought their second war against the British, sealing the verdict of the American Revolution.

Image from William Walton's The Army & Navy of the United States (1900)

1797

France begins to attack American
commercial shipping, leading to the
Quasi-War, an undeclared naval conflict.

1800

Under pressure, Spain returns the territory
of Louisiana to France.
President Jefferson fears this will mean
a strong French military presence in the
West.

1803

The United States purchases Louisiana
from France. President Jefferson claims
the Purchase also includes Spanish Texas
and portions of Spanish West Florida.

1805

Nelson destroys the French and Spanish
fleet at Trafalgar.
The U.S. Navy punishes the Barbary
pirates for preying on American shipping.
The Lewis and Clark expedition reaches
the Pacific Ocean.

1806

Dr. Daniel Turner, a Rhode Island
physician living in St. Marys, Georgia,
tells friends that tensions with Spanish
settlers over the Louisiana Purchase
and other matters have reached a fever
pitch and might lead to an invasion of
Florida.

1808

Slave traders begin to use Amelia Island,
East Florida, as a base of operations for
the African slave trade.

1808

Britain and the United States ban the
African slave trade from their possessions.
The French invade Spain.

1810

American settlers in the Baton Rouge
District of Spanish West Florida rebel
against Spanish rule.

1810

President James Madison orders American
troops from Louisiana to occupy Baton
Rouge and hold it for the United States.

1811

Governor David Mitchell of Georgia
pledges to put an end to Spanish "piracy"
at Amelia Island.

1812

[March 17-18].
Encouraged by an American agent,
Georgia militia, rebel Floridians, and U.S.
troops occupy Spanish East Florida.

1812

[June 18].
The U.S. Senate declares war on England
but the next day refuses to declare war on
Spain.

Between 1812 and 1821 Spain struggled to hold on to the Floridas. Gregor McGregor (right) led troops against Amelia Island in 1817. That same year the First Seminole War broke out, and in 1818 Andrew Jackson led forces against the Miccosukee and Seminole towns between the Apalachiola and Suwannee rivers.

Original artwork, Flags of Florida, Lt. Col. A.L.L. Martin.

1813

After one full year, the U.S. troops
occupying East Florida withdraw to
Georgia, burning many plantations as
they go.

1813

Andrew Jackson takes on the Creek
Confederation and defeats hostile
Creeks at Horseshoe Bend.
Georgia and Tennessee militias move
against the Seminoles in Spanish East
Florida.

1814

Andrew Jackson's forces occupy
Pensacola in Spanish West Florida and
force a British fleet to abandon the area.

1814

British forces burn the government
buildings in Washington but retreat
from an attempt to take Baltimore.

1815

Andrew Jackson defeats a British invasion
of New Orleans.

1816

Escaped slaves congregate around a
fort the British set up on the Apalachicola
River in Florida.

1816

The U.S. Army enters Spanish territory
to wipe out the "Negro Fort" at
Apalachicola.

1817

Gregor McGregor, an adventurer in the
pay of Spanish liberationists, seizes
Amelia Island in East Florida.
Reacting to McGregor's take-over,
American forces again occupy Amelia
Island on behalf of the United States.

1817

James Monroe becomes president of the
United States. Andrew Jackson (1818)
leads troops into Florida to destroy the
towns of Indians who have met
force with force on the frontiers.

1819

Spain agrees in principle to cede East and
West Florida to the United States.

1821

The Spanish Floridas are merged into a
single American territory with a new
capital at Tallahassee. Andrew Jackson
becomes the first (absentee) governor.

1821

A treaty acknowledging the transfer is
ratified.

1823

President James Monroe outlines the
Monroe Doctrine, that no European power
will be allowed to establish colonies in the
Western Hemisphere.

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